


Happy Day

by Captain_Forehead



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angel's POV, Gen, Not Ship Centered, POV Second Person, Post-Series, Tara Lives AU, casual homophobia, not a Homestuck it's just easier to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 16:17:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12585760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Forehead/pseuds/Captain_Forehead
Summary: Angel tries to sneak out of a party and meets someone almost as socially awkward as himself.





	Happy Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is a lame excuse to make my two favorite characters interact, since they never did it in canon. I like to think that they would probably bond over being very bad at handling social situations.

There were a lot of things you weren’t proud of.

For starters, you weren’t proud of anything you did between your 26 and 171 years. Down to every single kill, every single woman and village you raped. Down to every single time you made love to that cursed woman that made you this way. All the way, from the bodies of your own family, to the body of the one romani girl whose killing sealed your fate forever after that, all that one and a half century had been a trail of regrets.

You weren’t proud of a lot you did after that either. You weren’t proud of how you shamefully let that Thesulac demon kill every single person on that hotel, back in the 50’s, an act justified at the time by some sense of justice towards those who slandered against you, but that you now saw truly as an unthought-through act of bitterness. You weren’t proud of how you fired all your employees, your friends, the only people who stood between you and real darkness, just because they got in the way between you and your personal vendetta.

You also weren’t exactly proud of how you slashed the hand of the man who betrayed you, but you were certainly not losing your sleep about it either. And you had to admit, it had been pretty cool.

And right now, you weren’t proud of how you were shamefully fleeing your friend’s wedding, claiming to need to use the restroom, when the truth was that your plan was to just leave the place completely.

You couldn’t really help it. When Buffy told you Willow was going to get married and was really counting on your presence there, you weren’t expecting the event to be so crowded. Sure, you knew the Scoobies had a lot of _associates_ , but you couldn’t have known they considered so many of them to go in the friend category. _Call me old-fashioned_ , you thought, _but I think the meaning of friendship has been really watered down over the past 100 years_.

You had no problem with the ceremony, at the very least. You were actually happy for Willow. You knew she was in right hands. Sure, you didn’t actually know anything about the girl she was marrying, but you knew Willow was smart. She knew how to choose.

Your real problem was, of course, the party afterwards. Truth was, you had never been a party guy. Even when you were still Angelus, who, undebatably, seemed to be a real fan of chaos and mayhem, at actual parties you were still bored at best and borderline nauseous at worst.

One could never say you didn’t try your best. You did all the things you thought were expected of you at a party. You danced, in the only clumsy way you knew how. You ate and drank, and though the snacks weren’t exactly tasty for a vampire like yourself, the girls were nice enough to provide blood for you (and Spike, who was also there for God knows what reason). You talked to the other guests, most of whom you had never met in your life, so the conversation wouldn’t go much past the ceremony itself or something like the weather.

“I know it’s a wedding,” one young woman whose name you didn’t bother memorizing had said, “but did they really have to, you know, kiss? Like, open-mouth and everything? I mean, I’m not homophobic, it’s just-” At this point you just turned your back and went talk to someone else. You made a mental note to at least remember the woman’s face to tell Willow to cut her out of her life.

At some point, you reached your very limit. It had been some time between Xander’s five variations of the “marriage is horrible” joke and Giles’ drunk speech on the proper etiquette for napkin folding. Whatever it was, something set off your primal instinct of locking yourself in a dark room and brood ‘till dawn.

“I need to go to the restroom,” You announced when you, Buffy and Giles were listening to Xander tell a story about the time he got his head stuck in a sink. You weren’t paying attention, so you didn’t really understand how that was even possible. “Does anyone know where it is?”

Xander stopped talking and looked at you, weirdly surprised.

“Wait, vampires need to go to the bathroom?”

Buffy rolled her eyes, and stopped you before you could awkwardly answer the question. “Just go. We’ll be right here when you come back.”

You smiled at her and then left, trying not to look like you were in such a hurry while you were still in their field of vision. As soon as you were out, though, you swiftly made your way out of that party.

You were no amateur to leaving a place without being noticed. You moved like a shadow amidst the guests, and soon enough you were on the other side of the park, away from the party. You were almost out of the reach of the magic fairy lights that were floating over the people, illuminating the setting with their soft mystical glow, when you stopped and noticed you were being watched by a young woman just a few feet away from you. _Busted_ , you thought, until you noticed she seemed to be thinking the exact same thing.

“Um” you rose your hand, waving it hesitantly. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She said back.

You squinted. You took a few steps forward, and stopped when you noticed she was getting freaked out. Up close, you could better recognize her face.

“Tara, is it?” You felt embarrassed by the pause you made before saying her name, taking that while to remember it. _Nice work, Angel_ , you roasted yourself mentally.  _The woman’s name is right in the wedding invitation and somehow you still manage to forget it._

If she noticed your hesitation, she chose to ignore it. Instead, Tara just smiled. “That’s me. And I assume you would be Angel?”

You forced a chuckle. “The one and only.”

An uncomfortable silence followed.

“What gave that away?”

“Um...” She looked at you head to toes, searching for words. “I-I don’t know, I just… Well...”

You raised your eyebrows.

“You were the only one drinking blood at the party.” She finally said. “I mean. That looked human. A-and aside from Spike. B-but I know how Spike looks like.”

“...Oh.” You said. “Makes sense.”

Silence.

“You’re leaving?” She asked.

You gulped. “No, no, I was... just looking for a restroom.”

She nodded in understanding.

“You?” You asked back.

She hesitated.

“Me too. Same thing.”

Silence, a longer one this time.

“You were going to leave, weren’t you?”

You grinned, starting to relax more. “Yes.”

She smiled. “I wish I could too. Leave, I mean.”

“Not a huge party fan?”

She shook her head.

“I get it. I’m not one either.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to be here.” She explained. “I mean, how could I not? This is literally the most important day of my life.”

You smiled sympathetically.

“It’s just that sometimes it’s so much, you know? So many people, so many lights, so much noise...”

“I know exactly how you feel.” You said with honesty. “It’s like, you don’t wanna disappoint your friends so you just try your best to endure and keep hoping that...”

“...it’s over soon.” She completed, visibly relieved to find someone like-minded.

“Yeah.” You agreed.

Another silence followed, but this time a way more comfortable one.

“I heard a lot about you, you know.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Really? What did you hear?”

She shrugged. “Nothing specific. I heard you were all mysterious and cool and...” She furrowed her brow. “Broody.”

“That does sound like me.”

“I also heard you turn into a vicious killer called Angelus every once in a while.”

Your expression fell completely. “Oh.”

She went pale, seeming to regret what she said. “B-but you don’t look evil. Not at all. You’re actually very nice!”

You forced a smile. “Thanks. You’re also-”

“Actually no one told me you were so nice. And that you kind of look like a puppy.” She stopped herself. You repressed a chuckle. “I-I’m sorry. You were gonna-”

“I said you’re also really nice.”

“...Oh.”

“And also kinda look like a puppy.” You frowned, reflecting on your words. “...Yeah.”

Dead silence. You both stared at each other for a while, trying to find something else to say. You both opened your mouths to talk at the same time, and closed, waiting for the other to talk. That went on for about five minutes.

Finally, Tara started giggling. And in a few seconds, she went from giggling to full-blown laughter.

You started laughing too. There wasn’t anything to laugh at, and the fact that you didn’t know why you were laughing just made everything funnier as each second passed. You bent over yourself, holding your belly, fearing you might just throw up the appetizers you had over the course of the night.

Tara was in the same situation, tears streaming down her face with laughter. She lost balance for a moment, tipping forward and holding onto your tuxedo’s jacket to prevent herself from falling.

“Oh, Goddess,” she said in-between giggles. “I’m so sorry.” She apologized, but didn’t make any motion to let go of your jacket.

You waved your hand loosely in a “no problem” kind of gesture, since you were laughing too much to say anything.

This went on for several minutes, and gradually the two of you managed to catch your breath - or at least she did, since you didn’t really have to breathe. Eventually, Tara regained her posture, letting you go.

“Well, that was fun.” You said, still giggling.

“Yeah.”

“You should get married more often.”

“Oh, Goddess, I hope not!”

You repressed a chuckle. You weren’t gonna start again.

You looked down at Tara, starting to understand what Willow saw in that woman. That shy, awkward, mess of a woman, who also had courage in her eyes and kindness in her heart (and also worth mentioning, was very good looking).

You looked back at the party. “I think it’s time you went back there.” You said. “Willow must be looking for you.”

“Right,” she agreed. “I assume you’re leaving now, then?”

You nodded.

“It was nice meeting you, Angel. I-I know the things that are said about you in the History books aren’t the most flattering, but you know what? They’re wrong. You’re a good man.”

You grinned. _You don’t know that_ , you thought, but decided not to say it.

“Thanks, Tara.” You said. “Have a good night.”

“You too.”

You turned to go, but then stopped on your tracks.

“Oh.” You said, facing Tara again. “You know a girl that’s… around your age and height, very pale complex, curly blonde hair… looks kinda snooty.”

She considered your words for a few seconds. “Yes, I’ve seen her before. It’s a Slayer, I think. I don’t know her name.”

You raised your eyebrows. “She’s at your wedding party right now.”

“Yeah, I know.” She rolled her eyes. “Willow invited her. And only because she’s Xander’s new crush. What about her?”

“You shouldn’t trust her. She’s a bigot.”

Tara seemed disappointed for a moment, then smiled at you gratefully. “Thank you, Angel.”

“You’re welcome,” you said, before walking away from the party and towards the familiar embrace of darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> I was waiting to finish AtS before posting this but I decided to just post it already. This might explain some inconsistencies that this fic might have with events of the 4th and 5th seasons that I didn't actually intend to ignore.
> 
> Thanks for reading so far, I appreciate it.


End file.
